


First Contact Protocol Done Right

by UniversePepperland



Series: You Make My Heart Sing [3]
Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: F/M, I Had To, Pre-Relationship, after the moshae's rescue tho, for the sake of cuteness i had to
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-03
Updated: 2017-04-03
Packaged: 2018-10-14 06:50:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10531155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UniversePepperland/pseuds/UniversePepperland
Summary: A visit to Aya gives Ryder new friends. The best kind.(pure cuteness omg)





	

Aya was her favorite planet, it was gorgeous.It smelled like flowers and fruits and after she saved the moshae, the citizens started to be less rude to her, she didn't blame them considering their bad luck with outsiders.

They had come to the planet to gather supplies for Jaal, along with the snacks Suvi wanted for their movie night.It was nice to see her crew relaxing after such an intense mission.Seeing what the Kett truly were, shook everyone. Especially Jaal. She managed to keep an eye on him ever since they landed, sending him small smiles to which he reciprocated.

She had to fight back the bubbly feeling inside her stomach.She mentally cursed, she promised herself she wouldn't let Andromeda remove the guard she put around herself, but she was starting to care about Jaal too much.Flirtation came naturally and she couldn't stop herself from saying anything.

Samantha saw him against the railing, looking at the horizon with a peaceful façade.It was nice to see him like that. His gaze turned to meet hers and he smiled fully,"So." he began, making a sweeping motion with his left arm towards the beautiful view, "What do you think?"

"It's beautiful." she began, leaning on the railing herself, "It's almost ethereal."

Jaal let out a pleasing sound, continuing to stare at the horizon, not seeing Samantha's eyes on him.He looked, literally, out of this world. He seemed at peace, calm, happy...some days she wondered if he'd ever leave the Tempest and just stay here forever.It was a sad thought, but he had joined as an envoy after all, his presence...wasn't necessarily permanent.

"You seem so happy here." she whispered, smiling a bit to herself, "There's a sparkle in your eye." that made the angara blink his eyes towards her.He was surprised with her words.

"Yes.I am...thank you for noticing."

She smiled, "You are interesting,I like to notice." she said mostly to herself, but he had heard it. "Well,I will leave you to it,I still need to talk to Avela about the helmet." the human pathfinder said, trying to evade the situation she was in.

He wasn't interested.

He couldn't be.

No, hah, no...right?

"I should...I should just..." she jabbed her thumb over her shoulder, letting out an embarrassed laugh, walking backwards, "I should just go, bye!"

She darted off before he could reply.

She hadn't seen the small pleased smile in his face.

\--

With everything done, from talking to the Moshae to giving Avela her relics, Samantha sat down in one of the benches near the Resistance HQ, crossing her legs by the ankles.

Amazingly, this place reminded her of home.Perhaps it was the sense of community and love that it was so very clear.It was the sort of thing she hoped when she was younger, with her father...the two of them had a good relationship when she and Scott were younger, but as she got older the more she disagreed with Alec.

Scott was always the neutral ground, often calling for mom and helping Samantha calm down.She sighed softly, closing her eyes...she missed him.She missed her father, even though the two talked again only a few months before leaving for a 600 years trip.

She felt guilty for acting like she did, if she knew what would happen she would've changed her ways.Maybe tried to understand him more, but now it was too late and she was alone."Wow, great way to mope around,Samantha." she murmured to herself, digging her hands into her hoodie's pockets, playing with the small loose fibers inside.

That was when she felt eyes on her. Again?She thought the Moshae's rescue would've lowered the suspicions (although the messages around Aya proved quite the opposite). Turning her head, she was met with six pairs of tiny, bright eyes.

Children.

Angaran children.

Staring at her from a distance.

She blinked, staring back and slowly waving her hand at them with a small smile.The blue child in front of the other two flinched, looking at her playmates before waving back.Samantha wasn't as far from them so she could hear their words from where she sat.

"She said hi!"

"Do you think we can get closer?"

"She's not evil is she?"

"No!She saved the Moshae!Mama said she's a hero!"

Samantha unknowingly blushed, biting the inside of her cheek to fight back a smile.Children were her soft spot although she'd never admit it out loud. She heard a constant murmur coming from the group of kids, until they gasped, making the black haired woman turn her head at them.

In front of her was a little angaran boy with colors she hadn't seen before.He was white, pure white with lavender lines dancing on his skin, along with lavender freckles.His eyes were a bright shade of green and he was tugging his shirt nervously, "Hi." he said softly, Samantha saw he was missing his two front teeth.

"Hey." her reply was calm, she didn't want him to be scared.

The boy let out a nervous sound, looking at his feet before looking at his group of friends who stared back anxiously, "Um...my name is Rael." he said timidly, still playing with his shirt "Do...do you have a name?"

Samantha smiled more, "I am Samantha." she said, "I like your shirt."

Rael looked down at his shirt, a smile forming, "Thank you, my grandma made it for me." he said, his shoulders relaxing and his hands loosening the tight grip on his shirt, "Do you have a grandma?"

"I do." she said, before frowning, "Well, I did.She stayed back in the Milky Way."

Rael's bright eyes widened, "You can't visit your nana??"

"No, I can't."

He frowned, "Do you miss her?"

"All the time." she said softly, "But I know she's always with me, even far away." Samantha said, noticing he kept looking at the empty space beside her, "You want to sit down?"

"Yeah," he said, already accepting her offer by climbing on the bench, wriggling a bit to be comfortable. His tiny legs swung back and forth as he looked at her, "My friends are scared of you." he said sincerely, "But you are nice!"

"Am I?"

"Yeah!" he nodded, looking at the AI patch on her shoulder, "You saved the Moshae and you smell good.How did you get that?" he asked, suddenly pointing at her eyebrow scar.

She laughed at the sudden change of topic.Children would be children anywhere in the universe, "I fell down a tree." his little mouth opened in shock.

"A big tree?"

She grinned, "The biggest."

He gasped louder, his bright eyes shining in amazement, "My big brother has a scar." he moved his finger to where the scar would be, "Here and here.He never said how he got it tho," Rael smiled, exposing the little teeth window, 

The two of them chatted for a while before the other children joined in.All of them sitting around Samantha as she told them stories of the Milky Way, more specifically the ones her grandmother used to tell.Even if they had no idea what they meant, they listened intently, watching her lit up her omni tool to show certain figures.

The scene made some of the adults stare, some even tried to take the children away but were prevented by the guards, who were also very entertained by her tales. When she was done with her story, the group of children smiled brightly, thanking her for the story "That was very fun!" a little yellow girl said, "I wish you could stay forever!"

Samantha felt her chest warm up, a smile appearing on her face, "Well, I might visit more often if you want-" that made the children erupt in excited screams, "Okay, okay!" she laughed, checking the time on her omni tool, "I will make sure to visit you guys, alright?But I need to go now."

The sudden excitement dissipated, a long 'aaa wwwww' chorus echoed as she stood up, "I will be back, don't worry." she said, trying to comfort the kids. She let out a sound when they hugged her legs, her waist and one of them even climbed up her back, pressing a kiss on her cheek.

She had never met a race that exposed love like this.It was refreshing and coming from children, it was innocent and pure.Gave her, even more, purpose to continue with her role as Pathfinder.

The kids slowly untangled themselves, saying goodbye to her as loudly as they could, waving their arms around.Rael was by her side tho, holding her hand, tugging it for her to lean down his level, "Thank you for that, Ms.Samantha." he said shyly, one of his arms behind his back, "This is for you," he revealed a large bouquet of flowers of every color she knew of.

Her mouth opened in a gasp, "Rael!" she said, completely taken by surprise, "Thank you so much, I love them." the tiny angara smiled once again, quickly hugging her neck tightly.She felt her heart clench at that hug, wrapping her own arms around his little frame, "Take care, alright?" she felt him nod against her neck, "I will come by as much as I can,"

"Kay." Rael said sweetly, slowly letting go only to press a kiss on her cheek."Bye,Samantha!" he said, running to join his friends in front of a building, the large group watching her from a distance.

Hesitantly she walked away, looking over her shoulder at the group of kids with a smile.She looked at the bouquet of flowers, pressing her nose against them to smell the scent, smiling sweetly, "I need to make sure you guys don't die."

Samantha hadn't seen, however, Jaal.He had watched the entire ordeal along with the Moshae and the Governor, his eyes following her movements and how she smiled brightly at each of the kids, giving them attention equally.

He felt his heart lighter at the scene, he had his doubts about joining the human...but now he was sure he wasn't leaving. At least not for now.

"Ryder."

She stopped in surprise, letting out a sound, "Jaal!I-" she looked down at the flowers, "I was just,um..."

"Acting?" his brow rose a little bit, he was teasing her, "I saw everything.That was very kind of you."

"Oh, pft, it was nothing."

He sighed, "You do not understand." he began, "Most of those children lost their families only a few weeks back. Rael was the last one.His true grandmother and brother are the only ones still alive."

Samantha frowned, "Oh." 

"I've never seen them smile like that." he said in pure awe, "You did an extraordinary feat today." that made her blush, the red dusting over her cheeks "Are you embarrassed?"

"No!Its just...compliments are still kinda new to me.So uh...yeah...shall we go back to the Tempest?" she asked, walking ahead of him, sending a look over her shoulder.Jaal chuckled, nodding, following her with a wide smile.

**Author's Note:**

> AAAAAAAAAAA
> 
> giving you fluff because soon the smut will come and none will stop me
> 
> (also i love the comments you guys are giving me!Thank you so so much!Makes me day! )
> 
> (and i am sorry if the story seems weird or something like that...........i was in a bit of a hurry to do it and i suck at titles S ORRY )


End file.
